68 Year Old Veteran Killed by Police

On Sunday, April 1, 2012, Kenneth Chamberlain, Jr. wrote:
Below is an email from Kenneth Chamberlain Jr., whose father, a 68-year-old veteran of the U.S. Marines, was killed in his home by the police in White Plains, NY, on November 19, 2011. Kenneth created his petition on SignOn.org, a new site that allows anyone to start their own online petitions. You can read more about his father's death here.

We demand justice for Kenneth Chamberlain Sr., a 68-year-old veteran killed in his home by police.



Sign the petition
Dear MoveOn member,

On November 19, 2011, my father, 68-year-old Kenneth Chamberlain Sr., was shot and killed in his home in White Plains, New York.

My father was a 20-year veteran of the Westchester County Department of Corrections and proudly served the United States of America as a Marine. He stood about 5 feet, 9 inches tall, and he suffered from a heart condition.

The events that led to his killing began around 5 a.m., when his medical alert device was accidentally set off, sending a call to the City of White Plains Department of Public Safety. Everything that happened after that was recorded by an audio device installed in my father's home as part of his medical alert system.

When the police arrived at my father's home, he and the staff for his medical alert service told them that there was no medical emergency and asked them to leave. And yet they insisted that my father let them into his home, banging loudly on my father's door for over an hour. On the recording, the police can be heard calling my father a "nigger."

Ultimately they broke through his apartment door and first shot him with a Taser. He was wearing nothing but boxer shorts when the police began their assault against him. Shortly after that, he was shot with two 40-caliber rounds and killed.

My family is asking the Westchester County District Attorney to bring a criminal indictment, and we call on the United States Department of Justice or the New York State Attorney General to prosecute this as a hate crime.

Will you sign our petition? Click here to sign and please share with your friends: 

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=273615&id=38418-20617662-9VSDlyx&t=3

The petition says:

This petition is regarding the upcoming grand jury hearing in the case of Kenneth Chamberlain Sr., an unarmed elderly black citizen who was shot to death by the White Plains Police Department. 

This case not only brings into question the policies and practices of this department; but it is an open question whether it was inevitable, particularly in light of the audio tapes and video tapes witnessed by Mr. Chamberlain's family members and attorneys where racial slurs and expletives were used before ultimately shooting him twice in the chest and killing him. 

It is imperative that those tapes be made available to the grand jury, and that all other evidence be presented as well. I am concerned that secrecy so far—for example, the names of officers involved have not been released—bodes badly for transparency in this case as it moves forward. Nor am I aware of any public statements about the case from elected officials calling for openness. 

Members of Mr. Chamberlain's family and community—and a much wider circle of people who need to know there is fairness in the criminal justice system—seek reassurance that, no matter what the verdict, the process has been open, honest, and just. 

We, the undersigned, implore Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore to no longer allow police misconduct, brutality, or criminality to happen in this community and ask that these officers be indicted and charged with murder and civil rights violations.

Will you sign the petition? Click here to add your name, and then pass it along to your friends:

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=273615&id=38418-20617662-9VSDlyx&t=4

Thanks!

–Kenneth Chamberlain Jr.

The text above was written by Kenneth Chamberlain Jr., not by MoveOn staff, and MoveOn is not responsible for the content. This email was sent through MoveOn's secure system, and your information has been kept private.

Want to support our work? MoveOn Civic Action is entirely funded by our 5 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way.

334,682 people like MoveOn on Facebook. Can you help get to a million? Like MoveOn on Facebook

A New Perception on #FTP & #BlackBloc within #OccupyOakland

Well, I've been sitting here thinking about the events on Saturday Jan 28th and I can't help but see how there may have been a perception shift within Occupy Oakland and the BlackBloc tactics that have been so controversial in the past. Before we can get into the shift, lets first talk about the original perception.

From what I gather talking with Occupiers and sitting at some general assembilies, there were mixed emotions. Some people were adamantly against the blackbloc tactics while others thought it was a little cool even though they wouldn't do it themselves and of course there were the outright supporters. After the start of FTP (Fuck the Police march held every Saturday night)in response to the violence the Oakland Police Department has subjected the Occupy supporters to during the course of the almost 6 month old protest; the divide in opinions about blackbloc tactics deepened. This happened because of the bottle throwing that made many marchers be kettles by police and then chased several blocks by riot police. I think this divide is organically dissipating.

On Saturday many peaceful protesters who were not necessarily supporters of the blackbloc tactics seem to be more grateful for the shields, vinegar, malox and other defensive supplies that come from the blackbloc tactics as well. I saw the march to move in turn into a FTP march because of the violence that the protesters encountered. I almost think it helped merge the people who were previously split because now some people who have been against some tactics are aware of the fact that they are not against them all. Here may be the organic beginning of a warmer embrace to the diversity of tactics :)

Not that I'm for violence. I'm not, but I'm not a pacifist I do think I have the right to defend myself in the event of severe violence. Especially if it is unjust, like I didn't commit a violent crime deserving of a violent response. I'm sure most feel that exact same way, and the way the march turned into FTP hours before it was scheduled because of what was happening was pretty telling in my opinion. I think this push into acceptance will allow for more a more open minded approach to the decisions made within the movement from this point on.

A good example of preemptive decision making, it seems equally fortunate that the General Assembly decided to move to 19th & Telegraph because there was a statement that almost 100 protesters that were arrested on Saturday are also under a threat of a stay away order. Well. Unfortunately the stay away could be from the entire area of Downtown Oakland. That s a new blog post altogether though so I'm going to move on.

The point that I wanted to make with this blog is that Occupy is a truly inclusive movement. There is room for all types of different autonomous action as long as it has the same goal. When the militarization of the police department is successfully dealt with Occupy Oakland is going to probably look more like Occupy Wall Street, but may be forced to approach it differently than other occupations. There needs to be a discussion about what property damage is, what violence is, and what self defense is.

Once these different conversations get started, I can imagine that many people would start to see how their viewpoints may actually be more similar than they all believe. Making it to where the infighting about FTP and blackbloc tactics will quiet down. They might quiet down because the understanding that self defense is necessary will be understood. Those who are more responsible will understand that there isn't much that you can do about people who want to throw bottles and fruit randomly after being tear gassed or having smoke grenades thrown at them. People will start to understand that the political movement that has corporate greed as a target, might break a window at Bently or Starbucks. Spray paint the City Hall where abusive orders come out of from the Mayors office with obscene messages that are sure to be seen since the heartfelt cries of concerned citizens & Occupiers are ignored at City Council meetings, and through the form of emails and complaints to representatives and the Internal Affairs department of the Oakland Police Department.

Although I understand these tactics, I don't partake in them. I just can understand and without criminalizing those who feel strongly enough for that to be their desired way of protesting. I can understand that some may also feel as if picket signs get ignored because the world is so well adjusted to injustice. Maybe that is a part of the "imagine a new world" scenario. The one in which instead of sitting there like sheep, people are fighting back in any way they can to secure economic justice. To address police misconduct all the way to the abusive department policies and the way rights are infringed upon while protesting against governmental corruption and corporate greed.

SF Raid - Since when is it legal to do this? SF RAID & PICS 12.8.11

So I'm on my way to general assembly at Occupy Oakland when I get a text from Cdub510 that it was "going down" on PunkBoyInSF's ustream. It was at that point that I decided to go see what all the commotion was about. After all, it was only about 6pm so the public space occupied by the SF encampment was surely open. Now, on December 8th the San Francisco police department raided the general assembly for Occupy SF. This was organized police action that was in direct violation of the 1st amendment. Even more so than some previous attacks. Here is why:
 The General Assembly was being held at 6pm. The public space was open, and the police showed up using school yard bully tactics and just saying the space was closed. There was no documentation supporting this until later in the evening when a sign showed up. 

Now why was this the tactic used? Why were people sitting in the middle being held hostage basically after being assaulted for traveling freely within this country and peaceable assembling for a redress of grievances with their government by starting problem solving direct democratic tactics in a public space?

Previous attacks had been later in the evening for almost all Occupy encampments in the area, however there was no encampment here. Not at least until the police came and started encroaching on free speech rights. Then tents started popping up and more and more people decided to stay. I'd like to take a moment for all the law enforcement who are more than likely looking at my blog and say that if you keep fighting against Occupy, you're fighting against those who are looking out for your interests. When your pensions are sliced up to nothing remember that you have successfully oppressed those who were fighting for your rights. Those who pay taxes for the services that you have decided to no longer provide to the people, but instead have chosen to protect the 1%. I wonder if Occupy had a stage in because police pensions were being attacked, would the police literally attack the protesters? Would that protest go smoothly and that particular encampment be allowed to stay with actual assistance? Would that be what was needed to solidify the bridge between the police who are the 99% but not fighting with the 99%?

SF Fire Dept. had to break through the police line to get the injured person out

Anyway... I was very upset once I had realized that the man who was injured after being assaulted by SFPD had not received any medical attention after convulsing on the ground for several minutes. The police even went as far as to turn away two ambulances that came to the scene called by other Occupiers standing nearby. The police are not medics and thus they are not qualified to totally assess someones medical condition ESPECIALLY if they are bleeding from the head and convulsing. It is my opinion that the man could have died because of the police departments lack of good judgement. Eventually the SF Fire Department came out and approached the police officers blocking access to the injured protester. They were turned away and walked back to discuss how to handle the situation. After about 3 minutes of speaking with each other (picture to right) the fire department decided to head in and get the person who needed medical assistance. While the fire department were talking many individuals standing near by were shouting at them to go in and help the man who was injured. By this time people were clearly upset at the fact that someone had been denied medical attention. Many people (including myself) were very happy and cheered once the fire department went in. I'm sure the police department did not appreciate having their line broken, but I'm glad that it happened because it needed to. The police were the most dangerous individuals there that evening. They were the only ones breaking Constitutional Law, to the point where someone was hurt; and regardless of the fact that the police are traditionally supposed to be a very honorable position where you are paid by SOCIETY to PROTECT & SERVE! Not beat and harass and break the very laws in which you are supposed to be upholding while oppressing those you are supposed to be protecting.

There were many individuals who came out in support, and after the fire department went to properly assess the medical condition they had to come back to their truck and get a stretcher to get the protester on. So apologetic about not knowing his name. However, it's only confirming the fact that the police were not adequately trained to assess the medical condition of a "suspect" and they should be held responsible. Not to mention that he was attacked while within his rights. I'm quite sure that he would not have been brought out on a stretcher by the fire department if nothing was wrong with him. Also for some reason (I'm really not sure what crime he actually committed) but he needed to be escorted by an officer in the fire department ambulance to make sure that once he received the medical attention he obviously needed but was being denied that he could still go to jail for no reason.

It was disheartening to see the police allow a man to lay there and deny him help. I know that this is a bit redundant but even as I type this blog I just can't get over it. I could have sworn the police were supposed to protect and serve the community not hurt us. What is this world coming to? When did we as citizens stop holding the police department accountable for their job. I can't get a police officer to help me if I'm locked out of my car at 3am or if my Mother calls when someone is attempting to break in her house while she is home at midnight, so I'm wondering who exactly are the police departments protecting and why are we funneling so much money into the system as if it's been helping anything. Look to cities like Oakland CA where no matter how much money is poured into policing, the murder rate never drops below 100 and crime is never low. This is an injustice within itself that needs to be rectified and it's not going to happen unless we stand up as a people and start to hold our representatives and our government accountable. Occupy is doing that by pointing out the major ways in which our government continues to fail society while somehow still managing to make a profit. Something has got to stop!

The only part that wasn't totally saddening was the fact that so many people had showed up to brave the cold and continue to be there and take pictures, protest and stream what was happening. I'm glad to know that more and more of our communities are waking up to the injustice that has been happening right in front of all of our eyes and with some of our approval either through the action of inaction or not being properly educated on certain things before supporting/voting on them. I'm glad to know that there could possibly be some REAL change. You know the kind the President Obama talked about during his campaign but has seem to have forgotten after he was elected. The kind that reinforces the Constitution and brings us back to some sort of Communal prosperity. Building America back up by starting with the ENTIRE working class who have been left abandoned by those we have voted for and lost hope in. I'm not a professional, but I am a human and I know right from wrong. A lot of what's been happening recently on behalf of government against Occupy has been plain wrong in the basic way that we all learned about in grade school. Not having respect for one another is a big one, because of the separation that we have been programmed to believe it exists so much that we create it as well. We need to decolonize our minds and then we wouldn't feel the need to excessively police each other.

The night proved to be bigger than I thought. For some reason the bike brigade came out. I had no idea then or even now why they were needed. It seemed to be a show on;y because the only time I ever saw the police get off the bike was to go inside the Hyatt and eat food. Makes me wonder exactly how much of the tax payers dollars was wasted on this spectacle to make it seem like something was being done. As a matter of fact while I was walking by and streaming this grand entrance many of the motorcycle police flashed their high beams at me in an attempt to make me stop filming. Why was that necessary? Notice again, the school yard bully mentality from SFPD which seems to be share by their brothers OPD.

I keep wondering to myself how the strategies the police department utilize are developed. This question entered my mind once I saw all of the officers who were hell bent on putting an "unbreakable" perimeter around the perfectly Constitutional gathering, so much so that they were denying medical attention to a gentlemen that was so injured by the SFPD that he needed to be brought out on a stretcher, just decided to line up all perfect like and march around the corner to hang out and waste hard earned tax payers dollars on encroaching upon our Constitutionally protected rights. At what point is enough going to really be enough? When will this blatant abuse of our rights be enough to get the community more involved? Seriously, take a look at how much of an increase in funding for police services there has been in your city and then think about the decrease in crime. Excessive policing is not the answer to social problems.

Photos!!